Quake Deaths In Sichuan Is Probably Over 50,000 Says China's Government

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Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 15 May 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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The death toll so far from Monday's earthquake has been confirmed at over 19,500, but the Chinese authorities fear that more than 50,000 have been killed in Sichuan province alone, according to a press conference announcement made earlier today, Thursday 15th May, by the rescue headquarters of the State Council, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Li Chengyun, vice provincial governor of Sichuan told a press conference that the confirmed death toll as at 4 pm local time today was 19,509, which is over 5,000 more people than yesterday's 14,463, reported Xinhua, the news agency for the Chinese government.

The authorities estimate there are at least 12,300 people buried in the rubble, and another 102,103 injured in the earthquake in South West China, which reached 7.8 on the Richter scale, was felt nearly all over China and even as far as Vietnam. Over 400 deaths have been reported in regions neighbouring Sichuan.

There was some good news: rescuers have managed to pull 12,300 people alive out of the rubble, said the authorities.

The worst earthquake in China since the 1976 earthquake hit Tangshan in northern Hebei Province and killed 242,000 people, struck mid-afternoon on Monday in Wenchuan County, which is about 160 km northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. Over 100,000 square kilometers are severely affected, said the rescue headquarters.

China has mobilized a vast rescue force comprising over 100,000 soldiers and armed police and 1,235 teams of medical staff, local officials and volunteers. The provincial government of Sichuan has pledged over 670 million yuan (nearly 96 million US dollars) to quake-struck areas for disaster relief.

There have been some heart rending stories, and amongst all the devastation, finding and saving injured children are like small miracles.

Rescuers took more than 40 hours to free three-year-old Song Xinyi, who was found buried under her dead parents and a pile of rubble that was once their home. She talked to the crowd as the rescuers worked to free her. Premier Wen Jiabao comforted her and examined her wounds before she was taken to hospital in Beichuan. She will probably lose her legs, said a reporter for the Scotsman earlier today.

Another teenager trapped in a collapsed school had to have her legs amputated while parents huddled at the school gates hoping that at least their children will also be found alive, in any state, as long as they are alive.

With China's one child policy, and the number of children trapped when their school collapsed, there could be a whole generation missing in the community.

The Chinese government has held two emergency meetings at a senior level in the Communist Party since the quake, and at the second meeting, president Hu Jintao urged all uniformed personnel to rush to the areas affected and take part in the rescue and relief effort.

Sources: Xinhua News Agency, Scotsman.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
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